Elm Street Quilts' PLAY QAL has captured my curiosity and has become my idle-mind's daydreaming: how far can I take improv? who's mastered this style of quilting? am I doing it right? I was thinking that my improv PLAY work was not as improvisational as it could be, so I searched out some references to see how the pros do it. I fount Sherri Lynn Wood's book, The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters, and found my improv way! Her book is fascinating in its open-ended approach of introducing what she calls a 'score,' from which you can then create in any direction you want. Check out her website daintytime.net.

I started with the improv on the left--it was the "stack, cut, sew" prompt and I had added the dark brown window-paning to call out the quadrants, but it bothered me with its static nature. I like the addition of a new fabric color, but... it needed more activity, so I cut it up again and re-pieced it. The photo on the right is the result. Much better, right?

Wonky stars was the next prompt, and I am not a fan, so although I completed the exercise, I did not use them as-is in the quilt.

Crumbs! Lots of fun with this prompt, putting together bits and pieces and scraps. I always keep everything when I'm working on a project, so I had what I needed to construct this panel. I even used some of my wonky geese in here!

The next 2 prompts were 'strips and curves' and 'text' and I completed them both in one sitting, but was so eager to begin constructing the quilt that I forgot to photograph them individually. Both made it into the final layout though.

I auditioned different styles of layout (lots of neg space, all in a row, etc.), but kept coming back to this style, the different prompt pieces running together and blending into a whole. I worked this layout for several days to make the pieces work together. All my prompts were modified while I constructed this final layout, either by cutting them down, ripping out sections or adding strips to make it fit. I love my word for this quilt, STILL. It works as an adverb (it may be wonky, but its still a quilt), a noun (a still image that is the result of much thought, time and creativity), a verb (finishing this quilt does not still my creative thoughts), and as an adjective (my eyes move over the still fabric). I can see it all in my play time making this quilt.#playimprovqal

It's so fun to see how other people have approached this QAL! Choices of fabric, color, and how we tried the blocks for each prompt have been fun to look at. I really like your colors, and the word Still is perfect!